Marauder Era
by nani-lika
Summary: Just some antics and events that occur during the famous Marauder era. Pratical jokes, secrets, James and Lily romance.
1. Default Chapter

This is just something I wrote to keep me entertained for a while...I'm horrible at names so I usually just use the same ones over and over. So if you've read my other fic, I apologize for my lack of originality. I'm sorry if this is lame.

Chapter One

"Very well everybody, you're free to go!" Professor Flitwick called to the many students sitting at tiny tables in the Great Hall. They had just finished their Defense Against the Dark Arts O.W.L exams. Lisa jumped up from her table so quickly she almost knocked over her chair. Flushing a little she carefully packed her quill and ink into her bag and started towards the door with the rest of the students.

She was soon joined by her friend Lily, who was smiling.

"I'm so glad that is over!" She said, whipping her long red hair behind her.

They walked into the entrance hall heading towards the open, fresh air that was tempting them outside of the castle.

"I hope I did alright..." Lisa said.

"I'm sure you'll get an Outstanding! You've always been good at Defense Against the Dark Arts!" Lily assured her.

As she said this a few of her other friends from Gryffindor joined them and Lily began to laugh and giggle with them.

Lisa withdrew herself from the conversation. She looked up and in front of her was James, Sirius, Remus and Peter.

"Did you like question ten, Moony?" She heard Sirius say.

"Loved it," Remus answered, "'Give five signs that identify the werewolf.' Excellent question."

"Feel like sitting with us at the lake?" Lily asked her, breaking her focus on the group of boys.

"Sure." She said and she followed the group across the lawn to the lake.

They reached the bank and Lily and her other friends pulled off their shoes and socks and dipped their feet into the water. Being afraid of the Giant Squid, Lisa simply sat beside them, listening to their talk of the examination.

Her eyes wandered around the courtyard. James, Sirius, Remus and Peter has settled themselves under the shade of a near by beech tree. Sirius was lounging, looking bored and handsome (Sirius was quite good looking). Remus sat with a book in his lap and James was over exciting Peter by playing with a Snitch (no doubt stolen from the Quidditch pitch).

She sighed and laid back on the grass. It was cool and slightly damp beneath her, comforting against the sun. She lay there listening to all the sounds around her. She heard Lily and her other friends talking, a distant call from a bird somewhere in the forest, and suddenly she heard laughter.

"That Potter!" She heard Lily yell. Lisa sat up in time to see Lily storming off towards James and Sirius who had hexed and disarmed Snape.

"Leave him ALONE!" She heard Lily shout. She and James argued a bit before there was a great flash of light. Lisa saw that Snape had gotten his wand and wounded James. She got up and slowly made her way towards the tree where Remus and Peter were still sitting, watching the scene.

She reached the tree in time to hear Snape shout to Lily.

"I don't need help from filthy little Mudbloods like her!"

Lisa's mouth dropped in shock at the rudeness of Snape's comment to Lily, who had been trying to help. James had screamed for Snape to apologize. Lily told James that she didn't need for him to make Snape apologize to her.

"Messing up your hair because you think it looks cool to look like you've just got off your broomstick, showing off with that stupid Snitch, walking down corridors and hexing any who annoys you just because you can -- I'm surprised your broomstick can get off the ground with that fat head on it. You make me SICK."

After Lily had a go at James she stormed off and hurried back towards her friends at the lake, with James calling her back.

"What is it with her?" said James, trying and failing to look like he didn't care.

"Reading between the lines, I'd say she thinks you're a bit conceited, mate," Sirius said.

Lisa turned and watched Lily go back and sit with her friends, looking slightly flushed with anger. She turned back around to see Snape hanging upside down with his graying underpants showing. She now stood next to Remus, who was hiding his face with his book.

"Who wants to see me take off Snivelly's pants?" James had said.

"Oh Remus, make him stop!" Lisa pleaded.

Remus looked up from his book at the scene his two friends had created.

"They'd never listen to me, not with the mood James's is in," he said solemnly, looking up at her with pale eyes.

"I'm going to go study for Transfiguration in the library, would you like to come with me?" She asked fleetingly, wanting to get away from the scene.

With a quick glance at the spectacle James and Sirius were creating, Remus sighed a breath of relief and got up quickly to go with her. She retrieved her bag from the bank of the lake. Then her and Remus walked to the library. They seated themselves in a quiet corner where armchairs were set instead of desks. This was a usual meeting place of theirs, as they quite often would get together to finish homework and study for exams. Though she knew very little about the other three of Remus's group, her and Remus got along very well.

"I'm so nervous about Transfiguration!" She told him, "I keep having dreams that I accidentally transfigure my exam instructor."

He laughed, "I honestly doubt that will happen. You're excellent at Transfiguration." He reassured her.

"It is my favorite subject." She said sheepishly.

"Thank you for getting me away from James and Sirius." He said earnestly. "Sometimes I'm rather ashamed that they're my friends. Nothing I say to them ever sinks in though. I should have done something though...I am a Prefect."

"I'm sure they'll grow out of it sooner or later." She said with a smile.

Remus chuckled. He then held out his book to her, "Here, you can quiz me. I need it."

They sat in the library for an hour reviewing wand movements and incantations. They were then interrupted by each of their growling stomachs. It was clearly time for dinner. They gathered their bags and headed out of the library towards the Great Hall. When they got inside Lily came up to Lisa.

"Where have you been? I've been looking for you!" Lily exclaimed.

"I was in the library studying." Lisa told her.

Remus nudged her lightly, indicating that he was going to go join his friends. He left with a smile and sat with James, Sirius, and Peter who were already digging into their plates. They had only just realized that he was missing when he sat down next to Sirius, who was sitting across from James.

"Where have you been?" Sirius asked him, looking over a spoonful of food, eyebrows raised.

"Studying in the library." Remus replied.

James snorted. "Studying, that's a likely excuse. I saw you sneak off earlier with Lisa." He said giving Remus a suggestive look.

"Stuff it Prongs," he said kicking him under the table, "We were studying for Transfiguration."

"Just studying?" Sirius asked him as if it were very serious matter.

"Yes! Nothing more. We study together all the time."

"You do?" Sirius said seemingly very interested.

But Remus didn't answer him. He was busy filling his plate with food.

Further down the table Lisa and Lily we discussing their plans for the Hogsmeade visit that was approaching during the coming weekend.

"I think I could do with a new quill." Lisa was saying as they finished their food and were making their way to the doorway. They reached the door the same time as James, Sirius, Remus and Peter.

"After you Miss Evans," James said sweetly, gesturing for her to walk through the door.

Throwing a dirty look at him, she took off through the door as fast as she could.

James, looking hurt and insulted, looked at Lisa and said, "I was just trying to be a gentlemen."

Lisa shrugged, "I expect she's still sour from this afternoon. She just needs to cool down."

"So...er...you ready for the Transfiguration exam tomorrow?" Sirius asked her as she started through the door. He caught up to her and was now walking beside her, with James, Remus and Peter close behind.

"I think so. I've been going over everything all day. I'm hoping for an E maybe," she replied.

"I think you'll manage an O. You're pretty good in Transfiguration. Not as good as me...but then again no one is," Sirius said sticking out his chest.

Lisa rolled her eyes but smiled at him.

"Actually, Sirius I do think she is better than you." Remus told him. Sirius shot a look to Remus, eyebrows raised in non agreement.

"I think so too," Peter said. "Would you mind helping me? Remus has been too impatient with me lately." He asked her, shooting an accusing look at Remus.

"Well I do get tired going over the same trivial things over and over again." Remus retorted.

"Sure Peter, I'll help you." Lisa said.

"Wish Lily was as nice as you are," James said bitterly. "You didn't go off on Sirius for saying that he's better than you."

"That's because he's not better. I just let him think he is," She said with a wink at Sirius. "Lily was just upset over you're bullying of Snape. The reason she went off on you was because she was upset about the Mudblood comment, I think." She tried to assure him.

"Well the slimy git deserves it." James said as they reached the Gryffindor common room.

"Let me go get my books." Peter said as he went off towards the boys dormitory. Lisa sat down on a fluffy couch to wait for him. James sat down on the other side of the couch. Peter returned shortly with his Transfiguration book in hand. He was pulling up a chair when Lily walked by. She was determined not to look at the group but she looked up surprised when she saw that Lisa was sitting next to James. With a disgusted look she went to the other side of the room to join her other friends.

"Looks like you're on her bad side now." James said. "Reckon she'll never talk to you again just for sitting next to me."

"She might not talk to me for the rest of the night but I'll talk some sense into her," she said to him, trying to reassure herself in the process.

She began reviewing basic wand movements with Peter. Remus had pulled up another chair and was reading his own Transfiguration book while Sirius and James were arguing over whether they should play Wizard's Chess or Exploding Snap. They finally decided on Chess after Remus's suggestion that Exploding Snap would be very distracting.

Lisa had moved Peter on to a slightly more difficult spell. While he was practicing it she absentmindedly began reviewing things in her head, muttering spells and turning her book bag into various objects. Suddenly, she felt the urge to be mischievous. Looking over at James and Sirius, she smirked. _Why not, _she thought, _they might get a kick out of it._ While James was in deep concentration, trying to decide his next move, Lisa slyly pointed her wand at him and muttered a spell.

There was a small glittering flash. Sirius looked up from the board to see a large red parrot wearing James's glasses. He broke out into a large fit of bark-like laughter. Remus and Peter looked up and began laughing as well. Lisa tried hard to hide her smile. With a quick wave of her wand James was once again his normal self. Looking at Sirius laughing heartily at the shocked, stupefied look on James's face she couldn't contain her laughter any more and let out a few giggles.

James turned to her accusingly. She cleared her throat and wiped her face of the smile.

"Sorry, it slipped." She told him innocently.

He looked at her with a cocked eyebrow. "Slipped huh?"

She giggled, no longer able to keep a straight face because Sirius had started laughing once again, so much that he had fallen off his chair.

"I think red is a good color for you Prongs." Sirius said with mock sincerity pulling himself off the floor.

James laughed. "You know for a minute there I thought Wormtail there had actually gotten a spell right."

Peter snorted indignantly and scowled at James.

Lisa smiled. "Well I think I should get up to bed. I need to make sure Lily is going to forgive me. Peter, I'll help you some more on that spell in the morning. Night guys." She said as she took up her bag and went up the girls dormitory stairs.

James was picking red feathers out of his robe. "Who knew she had a good sense of humor," he said.

Sirius smirked and blew at a feather that had floated towards him.


	2. Ch 2

Chapter Two

When Lisa reached her dormitory she found Lily changing into her night clothes. Lily turned away from Lisa when she entered.

"Lily..."

She said nothing.

"Lily you can't be mad at me because I was hanging out with James. He happens to be really nice when you get to know him. Besides I was just helping Peter with Transfiguration. And Remus and I study together a lot. I mean, I don't really like your other friends give you the silent treatment because of it."

Lily turned around and looked at Lisa, her bright green eyes flashing.

"He is an arrogant jerk who likes to pick on people just because he thinks he's better than them. At least none of my friends are like that!" She snapped. Without another word she flung herself into her bed a closed the hangings.

Lisa sighed. Her and Lily often got in to arguments and disagreements that led to not talking for a few days. She really hoped that this was just another one of those times and that Lily would forgive her in a few days. Hopefully before the term was up, she would hate to have to go home for the summer with Lily mad at her.

She changed into her night clothes and got into her bed. Transfiguration was her only exam tomorrow. She fell asleep and dreamed of turning her examiner into a big red parrot.

She woke early the next morning to find that Lily was already gone from the room. She sighed as she dressed and made her way to the Great Hall for breakfast. When she got there she saw Lily sitting in between all of her other friends. It was clear to Lisa that Lily still didn't want to talk to her. She sighed once again and scanned the table for a place to sit.

James looked up to see her standing there, unsure of where she should sit. He waved to her and called her name.

"Hey Lisa!" He said smiling. "Come sit with us."

She glanced at Lily, who was determined to keep her eyes on her plate, then made her way to the table. When she got to the there Sirius pushed Remus, who was sitting next to him, over then patted the bench in between them.

"There's room for you right here." He said moving over, squishing Peter who was on his other side. He pushed Peter so far over that he fell off the end of the bench they were sitting on. With a disgruntled look he got up off the floor and sat next to James instead.

"Thanks." She said uncertainly, suddenly aware that a few girls were looking at her funny.

"Lily still not talking to you eh?" James asked handing her a plate full of eggs and bacon.

"No." She said. "But I'm hoping she'll come around."

"I'll talk to her if you want." James said eagerly.

"Er, that's very nice of you James but, I don't think that'll help matters." She said.

"No," He said looking crestfallen. "No...I guess not."

"Does she hate me? I can talk to her for you. Or we can have Remus threaten to punish her or something. He needs to learn to abuse his Prefect privileges." Sirius put in cheerfully.

Lisa laughed as Remus rolled his eyes.

"They've been trying to get me to punish anyone who annoys them all year." He sighed.

"Yeah, your so uptight Moony." James said.

Lisa smiled. She was beginning to like being in the company of James and his infamous group. They were not as bad as Lily thinks they are. Lisa wished that she could just convince Lily to spend some time with them as she had. Then she wouldn't hate James so much. But she couldn't be certain that she was truly being accepted by the group. Sirius kept eyeing her and she began to feel uneasy because of it. She wondered why he kept looking at her.

The bell that signaled the start of morning classes sounded and everyone got up from the House tables. Most of the students went to their first class, while those taking the Transfiguration exam were ushered into the near by room to await the start of the exam. Everyone seem to be quite nervous. Many of the students were franticly reviewing notes and trying to cram as much information as they could into their heads from the books they held. Peter was looked so scared it seemed as if he were going to wet his pants. Remus had pulled out his book and was checking definitions in the back. The only ones who didn't look worried were James and Sirius.

"Its going to be a piece of cake!" Sirius said when Lisa asked him and James if they were worried at all about the exam.

Finally the students were called in to the Great Hall. Where the four large house tables had been there were now hundreds of smaller tables. Lisa wandered to a table towards the middle while James and Sirius moved towards the back. Remus ended up a few tables behind her with Peter close behind. When everyone had settled down and were quiet their potions professor, Professor Zimmers, said "You may begin." And turned over the giant hourglass that sat in the front towards the staff table.

With a look at the paper overturned in front of her, Lisa held her breath as she turned it over and read the first question. The only noises heard in the hall were the scratching of quills as everyone started the written part of their Transfiguration exam.

"Five minutes to go!" Professor Zimmers called.

Lisa looked over the answers. The corners of her mouth raised a little. She was certain that she had done well. Rereading her answers she couldn't find anything that she had left out or any mistakes. She put her parchment down and waited out the time. When the last grain of sand fell to the bottom part of the hour glass Professor Zimmers shouted "Times up!", collected their papers and dismissed them.

Standing up she looked at Remus behind her. He smiled but gave her a look as if he thought he didn't do as well as he hoped. She collected her bag and started towards the door. Remus caught up to her.

"I think I might have missed something important." He told her.

"I'm sure you did very well Remus, when we studied yesterday you knew all of the most important definitions."

Lisa passed Lily at one of the end tables near the door. When she saw her she stopped.

"Think you did alright Lily?" She asked, acting as if there was nothing going on between them.

"I expect so. I remembered the poem you taught me that described the wand movement needed for the Vanishing Spell." Lily said, being friendly yet aloof.

Lisa was just about to ask her if she remembered the definition for question four when James and Sirius caught up with Remus. Lily looked at Lisa an hurried off before anyone got the chance to say something to her. James watched her go.

"Maybe I should follow her, it seems as if she's ready to make up now." Lisa said.

"Will you sit with us for lunch?" Peter asked her. "I want to go over that spell one more time."

"Sure Peter. See you." She said as she left the hall to catch up with Lily.

Sirius stared at her for a bit as she went, watching her long brown hair swish as she walked. When she turned the corner he suddenly realized that Remus had been asking him a question.

"Wha-- sorry Moony, what did you say?"

"I asked if you think you did well." Remus asked following the spot where Sirius's eyes had been, looking confused.

"Oh. Yeah, yeah...piece of cake." Sirius said.

Remus rolled his eyes and headed out towards the courtyard. The others followed him.

They had a quick break before lunch and then after lunch they had to take the practical part of their examination. Lisa caught up to Lily in the stone courtyard. Lily sat down on a bench and Lisa sat next to her.

"I'm sorry." Lily said to Lisa, "I shouldn't have been so snobbish with you. Its ok if you want to hang out with James and his friends."

She smiled. "Thanks Lils. So what should we do in Hogsmeade this weekend?"

They chatted about their plans for the weekend when the bell sounded for lunch. Lily and Lisa walked back towards the Great Hall. Once inside they made their way to their house table that once again placed in their spots. Lisa saw the guys sitting towards the back of the long table.

"I'm sorry Lily but I promised Peter that I would sit with him and help him with a spell." She said as Lily made her way to join her other friends.

"Oh, ok. I'll see you after the exam then?" She said, smiled, then sat down with her friends. Lisa waved good-bye to her and went to join the guys.

"There she is, 'O master of Transfiguration who will save our poor talent less friend from failing." James said as she sat down.

"Shut up James." She said laughing.

Remus smiled and nodded to James as if say 'Ha! she told you to shut up'. Sirius also marveled at her ease at telling James to shut up. Truth be told Lisa was at first nervous to be hanging out with the group. They were notorious around Hogwarts, the height of cool, and extremely popular. Never being really popular herself, Lisa had been surprised that she was being accepted by this group. She was also extremely surprised that these four were starting to feel like very good friends.

"What was the movement for the Vanishing Spell again?" Peter asked her, moving from Remus's left around to her right.

She showed him the movement and he tried to practice on the salt shaker in front of them.

"This time tomorrow we'll be finished with exams." Remus said. He looked pale and worn. There were circles starting to form under his eyes. He looked very tired.

"What's left, History of Magic?" James asked though not at all really concerned.

"Yes, History of Magic." Lisa said. "I can't believe the term is almost over. Though after these exams I'll be welcoming the holiday."

"Where will you be going home to after? Are you parents wizards or Muggles?" James asked her.

"My mum is a witch, my dad is a Muggle. We live in a Muggle town outside of London."

"Both of my parents are wizards." James said.

"For me, its just my mum. And she's a witch. Though my father was a Muggle." Remus said.

"What about you Sirius?" Lisa asked him, suddenly aware that he was being very quiet.

James looked at him, wondering if he was going to say anything.

"I come from a very ancient line of pure-bloods." Sirius said stiffly.

"Sirius doesn't get along with his family too well. The whole lot of them were in Slytherian and don't think too highly of Sirius because he's in Gryffindor." James added after he was sure Sirius wasn't going to say anymore.

"Saying that they don't get along is putting it very mildly." Remus added.

"Speaking of the holidays. Sirius, my mother has a room already set up for you and is expecting you within a week after term ends."

Sirius beamed gratefully at James.

Above them the bell that signaled the end of lunch rang. It was time for their practical Transfiguration exam. The students piled into the waiting room adjacent to the Great Hall. They waited until their names were called to reenter the hall. Sirius was the first to leave. Lisa then heard Lily's name being called. Remus's left for his turn. Then the call for "Pettigrew! Potter!" came and James and Peter departed. Lisa's name was finally called and she entered the Great Hall. She was sent to a free examiner, an ancient looking witch with a wheezy voice.

"Now if you'll just make this tea cup walk across the table for me."

After performing Vanishing Spells, making a tea pot levitate, and turning an sitting stool into stork. The examiner praised her wand work and excused her with a smile. When she left the Great Hall she felt very confident that she had done well. She found Lily waiting for her and nearby were Remus, Sirius, Peter and James. Lily was trying very hard to ignore the group who were trying to pretend that they weren't waiting for anyone though.

"How'd you do?" Lily asked Lisa.

Lisa replied with a smile. "I'm sure I passed."

"There's a shock." Remus said, with a hint of sarcasm, over her shoulder. Sirius appeared close behind him.

"We meeting after dinner to study for History of Magic?" Remus asked her.

"Right."

"See you, then." He said. He turned around to leave but instead bumped headlong into Sirius.

"Padfoot! What's the idea?" Remus cried.

Turning bright red Sirius muttered a "Sorry Moony." And quickly left the entrance hall. Raising a confused eye brow, Remus followed him.

Lily and Lisa made their way towards the common room. Lily sat down on a squishy arm chair and Lisa sat on the couch next to it.

"Is James going to be studying with you and Remus tonight?" Lily asked in a would be casual way.

"I don't think James ever studies." Lisa said, then added lightly, "But I'm sure he would if you were there. Especially if I told him you had a thing for him."

"What?! Me? Have a thing for James? Are you mental?" Lily shirked but averted her eyes.

Lisa laughed and Lily finally sighed and smiled.

"Just don't go telling him anything like that." She said blushing.

"I wouldn't dream of telling a soul." Lisa said crossing her heart.

They talked for a while, enjoying the quiet of the common room. Everyone else seemed to be outside since the day was nice and clear. Lisa enjoyed the time alone with Lily, whom she dearly missed while they were fighting. They talked till it was time for dinner. Getting up from their comfortable spots they took off for the Great Hall and seated themselves with Lily's friends once they got there. Lily's friends, who usually didn't pay much attention to Lisa, were surprisingly talkative with her. Lisa soon found out the reason for this however.

"So Lisa, is Sirius seeing anyone right now?"

"What did you do to get invited to hang out with them?"

James, Peter, Remus and Sirius were what the girls were interested in. Every girl dreamed of dating James or Sirius. They were both very popular crushes among many girls. When Lisa didn't answer their questions they began talking to each other.

"Sirius is so good looking!"

Choosing to ignore this chatter Lisa pulled out her History of Magic book. When she had finished eating she said good bye to Lily and excused herself to the library. Once in the library she made her way to the back where the set of arm chairs were. She chose her favorite and sat down, putting her book and notes on the table in front of her. She had just begun to frown at her notes when Remus plopped down in the chair across from her.

He looked pallid and colorless. If he had looked this way earlier in the day Lisa hadn't noticed. He looked older than his fifteen years. His eyes were tired and droopy but he still managed to give off an array of energy.

He noticed her looking him over, afraid that she was going to bring up how he looked he quickly tried to think of something to say.

"Excited about the exam?" Was what he came up with.

"Excited?" She laughed. "Actually I find myself not caring about this exam. History of Magic is so dull."

"I agree." Remus said.

Soon they were off topic, talking about everything but History of Magic.

Remus was telling her of the time when James put a flobberworm in Sirius's bed when to their surprise Sirius himself showed up. He had his History of Magic book in hand. Remus looked at him like he'd never seen him before.

"Mind if I study with you guys?" Sirius said.

"You?" Remus said disbelievingly. "Study? You never study."

"Well I slept through the class for most of the year so...I thought I'd better a least borrow someone's notes." He said, not looking at Remus but a spot on the chair he was sitting in.

"You're welcome to join us Sirius, but we're not really studying." Lisa said.

"Keeping a Prefect from his studying?" Sirius grinned. "Count me in."

He sat in the armchair next to Lisa.

"So Sirius," She said. "I hear flobberworms aren't very good bed warmers."

Sirius glared at Remus. Remus grinned.

"Wait till you head what I did to get him back!" Sirius said turning to Lisa.

They sat in the library and talked about all the mischievous pranks they've played on each other. Lisa couldn't remember a time when she had laughed so much. Sirius and Remus seemed quiet pleased with themselves at being able to make her laugh at their jokes.

At a quarter to nine Lisa checked her watch.

"Oh wow...its almost curfew. I better get up to the common room before Lily starts to worry. Goodnight Remus, Sirius." She picked up her books and left the library.

Sirius watched her go.

"So are you going to tell her?" Remus asked casually when Lisa was out of earshot.

"Tell her what?"

"Don't be thick Padfoot." Remus said grinning. "I know that you like her. Why else would you want to study? You've never studied a day in you life."

Sirius blushed and looked at the floor.

Remus jumped up from his chair.

"I gotta tell James!" He said and ran out of the library.

"What?! Moony! No!" Sirius said leaping up and going after him.

"NO RUNNING IN THE LIBRARY!" Madame Pince shouted after them.

The History of Magic exam went by in a flash for Lisa. She rushed through it as fast as she could. Finding herself pausing to laugh everything now and then over something that reminded her of something funny Sirius had said.

"Time is up!"

The parchments were collected and with the call of "You may go!" everyone, including Lisa, let out a cheer and left the Great Hall. Through all the smiling faces full of relief she found Lily. They exchanged exasperated smiles and joined the rest of the fifth year students flooding the courtyard.


	3. Ch 3

Chapter 3

"Well that was our last Hogsmeade visit for the year!" Lily said putting her shopping bags down on the table in the Gryffindor common room.

Lisa had pulled her new quill out of her bag and was examining it when Sirius appeared in front of her.

"Had a nice time in Hogsmeade?" He asked. "Get anything exciting?"

Lisa held up her quill.

"All the way to Hogsmeade and you come back with a quill?" He said shaking his head.

"And I suppose you've come back with bags full of fun from Zonko's?" She asked.

"Actually, I didn't go into Hogsmeade today."

"Oh." She said finding this odd.

"Sirius! Lets go, its time for dinner." James called to him from across the room. Sirius waved and left.

"That was weird." Lily said.

"What was weird?" Lisa asked her.

"Sirius. He's never approached any other girl like that before."

"So?" Lisa said.

"Oh never mind. Come on, lets go down to dinner." Lily said getting up and heading towards the portrait hole.

They went down to the Great Hall. When they got in there Lisa waved at James and Peter. Sirius, who had his back to her, turned around to wave at her too. She looked around but didn't see Remus anywhere. She sat down with Lily and they had dinner. Every now and then Lisa would look over to see if Remus had joined his friends but he never did. When the guys left the Great Hall Lisa was a little concerned but she figured that they were going to see where he was. None of the four boys turned up in the common room later that night.

The next day was the last of the term. With her trunk packed Lisa went down to the Great Hall for the end of the term feast. Eating with Lily and her friends in the Great Hall for the last time and listening to Dumbledore give his last speech, Lisa felt very happy. She was excited about going home and seeing her family again. There was only one thing that was bothering her. She still hadn't seen Remus. Peter, James and Sirius were towards the end of the table. They all looked very worn out and tired, as if they hadn't slept for a night. After the feast they all went to the horseless carriages that took them to the Hogwarts Express. Once they had their trunks on the train and found a compartment, Lily and Lisa took their seats, Lily's friends joined them. The train started its way to Platform 9 ¾. When they were well on their way, Lisa's head buried in a book, Sirius poked his head inside their compartment.

"Hey Lisa, want to join us for lunch?" He asked her.

"Sure!" She said dropping her book and getting up to go with him.

"Lily, you're welcome to come too." He added after Lisa left.

"No thanks." She said and he left.

Lisa walked down the train for a little bit and found the compartment where James and Peter were sitting. They invited her in and she sat down next to James.

"Where's Remus?" She asked him. "I haven't seen him for days."

James pointed to the seat behind him. There Remus sat, head against the window, fast asleep. He looked frail and worn. He shifted slightly in his sleep and when his robe fell back over his arm Lisa could see horrible bruises and a large cut. Noticing that she was staring at him James quickly averted her attention.

"Um, what happened to Sirius?" He asked her.

"I don't know." She said. "He was right behind me."

Just then Sirius came into the car. He was smiling and looked extremely pleased with himself.

"What did you do?" James prompted.

"Gosh Prongs you sound like Remus. I just met old Snivelly in the hall. Let's just say that I gave him a little farewell present." Sirius said with an extremely mischievous smile.

Lisa couldn't help but smile back at him. For a moment they held each other's eyes, both alight with their smiles. Something happened inside both of them. They couldn't take their eyes away from each other. Sirius was amazed by the beauty of her smile. He was about the lose control and run over to kiss her when the compartment door opened.

The witch that pushed the lunch cart came into the car. She ran into Sirius with her cart because he was blocking the doorway.

"Out of the way dear!" She said as she tried to get her cart in the compartment again. Sirius sat down next to Peter. They ordered their share of cauldron cakes and chocolate frogs. They were half way through their lunch when the compartment door opened once again. In walked Lily's two friends.

"There you are Lisa! We've been looking all over for you."

"Sirius! James! We didn't know you were here!"

With a disgusted look Lisa left the seat next to James and sat in the back of the car with the still soundly sleeping Remus. The two girls immediately took her seat, sandwiching James in between them. One was all over James while the other was trying her hardest to get closer to Sirius, who was squishing Peter against the wall trying to get away. Some quick talking by James finally got them to leave. Lisa still sat in the back next to Remus, gazing out of the window. Remus stirred and opened an eye.

"Lisa?" He croaked.

"Yes." She said startled. "Remus, are you ok?"

He had sat up, he was looking at her with two bloodshot eyes. There were great big bags underneath them as well. He was trying to sit up straight.

"No, Remus don't." She said putting a hand on his shoulder and gently making him stay put. "What's wrong?"

"I just got a little sick before term ended. I was in the hospital wing for the last few days." He said, then added, "Why are you sitting back here with me?"

"On the pretense of looking for me, Lily's two friends came in and made an excuse to flirt with Sirius and James." She told him.

"Those two are wasting their time." He said resting his head back against the window.

"Remus, go back to sleep." She said, running her fingers through his hair to smooth the ruffled parts.

"If you insist." He said with mock indignation and a sleepy smile.

She patted his knee and got up to rejoin James and Sirius in the front of the car. She sat down once again next to James.

"Can you believe those two?" Sirius said. "I can't believe Lily hangs out with them."

"Complete idiots." James added.

But Lisa wasn't paying attention to them. Her eyes were still on the beaten up, sleeping Remus. Sirius followed her gaze.

"Don't worry." He said, finally averting her eyes. "He'll be fine. He just needs to rest."

He smiled to reassure her. His smile made her feel happy and she was immediately less worried about Remus. The compartment door opened once more. James and Sirius held their breath fearing that Lily's two friends had returned. Instead, Lily herself walked in. James's hand flew automatically to his hair.

"This is a surprise." He said to her.

"I'm hear to see Lisa." She said. "And get away from my other friends who can't seem to stop talking about you and Sirius."

Surprisingly she sat down next to James. Within a minute they were engaged in deep conversation. Sirius entertained Lisa with a game of Exploding Snap while Peter sat and cheered them on. Soon the Hogwarts Express had pulled up to Platform 9 ¾ . They gathered their luggage and were waiting on the platform for their parents.

"I'll write to you ok?" Sirius told Lisa before his parents came up to him.

She smiled.

"Sure. Sirius, take care of Remus please." She called to him as he left with a wave and a smile.

Lily, who had just got done saying bye to James, came up to her. Putting an arm around her shoulder she said, "Time to go home!" And they left with their parents.


	4. Ch 4

Chapter 4

September came very quickly and soon Platform 9 ¾ was buzzing with students trying to catch the Hogwarts Express back to school. Lisa and Lily arrived together, Lisa having spent the last two weeks of the holiday at Lily's house. Lily's parents bid them farewell and they both started off towards the train. Before they got half way there Lisa heard a familiar voice calling her name. She turned around to see a grinning Sirius running toward her.

"Hi." He said suddenly feeling awkward. "Did you, uh, get my letters?"

"Yes," She said. "Did you get mine?"

"Everyone of them." He said still grinning.

Suddenly James came up from behind him. He walked right over to Lily and put his arm around her shoulder.

"Hullo James." She said and she kissed his cheek.

"Should we find a car them?" He said and they took off towards the train hand in hand, leaving Lisa and Sirius gaping open mouthed at them.

"So you found out about James and Lily did you?" Remus said coming up to them.

This shook Lisa out of her shocked trace.

"Remus!" She cried throwing her arms around his neck.

"You look so much better than when I saw you last." She said letting go to get a good look at him. "I've been worried sick about you."

"I'm fine Lisa dear. You needn't worry." He smiled. "I'm going to get on the train now. You two should as well." He said and followed the path that James and Lily took.

"Reckon they should have at least gave us a warning?" Sirius asked her talking about James and Lily.

"A small one would have been nice." She replied.

"So...er...have you and Remus been writing a lot to each other over the summer?" He asked her trying to be casual.

"We wrote a few times. I just wanted to make sure he was ok. I got a few letters from James too, but I mostly wrote to you."

That made his insides jolt. He had experienced a pang of jealousy when she had hugged Remus, he wished that she had hugged him. Hearing that she wrote him the most made him very happy.

"We should probably get on the train now." She said.

"Yeah let's go." He said touching her arm to lead her forward.

His touch sent tingles into her body. She tried her hardest to ignore it. She had been thinking about Sirius all summer. She knew how incredibly good looking he was and she convinced herself that they would be nothing more than friends because good looking guys didn't go for her. After all, he hadn't shown anything but friendly signs towards her. She tried her best to forget about the butterflies she got in her stomach every time she received a letter from him, the increasing fluttering she felt now that she saw him, and the incredible wave of happiness she felt when he touched her.

Once in the train they found Lily, James, Remus and Peter in a compartment towards the back. Upon entering Lisa found that Remus had situated himself in the back of the compartment once again and was already asleep even though the train hadn't even started moving yet. Lily and James were sitting together in the next seat, holding hands and sitting as close together as the possibly could with Lily's pink shirt overlapping onto James's green jacket. Peter was looking at them with a shocked expression telling Lisa and Sirius that he has not been told about their sudden union either.

"Is Remus sleeping? The train hasn't even started moving yet." She asked, sitting down next to Sirius.

"Its like a tradition for Remus, he always sleeps on the train." Sirius told her.

Soon the train was speeding its way back to Hogwarts.

"So did everyone get their O.W.L results?" Lisa asked.

"I got seven." Lily said. "Three were O's."

"I scraped a few." James said trying to be modest for Lily's approval but held up eight fingers behind Lily's head for everyone else to see.

"I passed most of mine!" Peter said. "Thanks to you Lisa I even passed Transfiguration."

"I got eight." Sirius said. "Two E's and the rest O's." He added immensely pleased.

"What did you get Lisa?" James asked.

"I got eight Outstandings." She said slightly flushing. She felt like she was bragging just stating her results.

"I think that's what Remus got too." Peter said.

They all talked for a while about their summers. For most of the summer Lily was on vacation with her parents in Paris. She complained because she had to share a room with her sister, Petunia, who hated her because she was a witch. James and Sirius had spent the summer together. Sirius was forced to help James practice Quidditch in the open fields next to James's parent's house. Remus had spent the summer with his mother, he had woken just long enough to add his summer to the conversation then drifted off to sleep once again.

Before they knew it they were pulling up to the Hogwarts castle. The night air was crisp and cool. There were millions of stars set into the sky. Once the four boys and two girls settled themselves into two horseless carriages they started towards the castle. Once inside they took their seats at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall. The ceiling in the Great Hall shone with the same millions of stars. After the Sorting and Dumbledore's start of term speech they all had a magnificent dinner. When they had all eaten to their heart's content they left the Great Hall and headed towards Gryffindor tower.

"I'm beat. Nice, soft bed here I come!" Peter exclaimed leading the group.

"Potter!" Professor McGonagall called. "I need a word with you."

"We'll wait for you up in the tower." Lily said and edged the group forward.

"Not even at school for a day and already he's in trouble." Lisa laughed.

Once in the Gryffindor common room Lily, Lisa, Sirius and Remus sat by the fire to wait for James. Peter was not at all anxious about what Professor McGonagall could want with James and went straight up to the boys dormitories. Sitting on the couch between Sirius and Remus, Lisa found it hard to keep her eyes open. Sirius kept sneaking glances at her. He thought that she looked so pretty sitting there with her eyes closed. He began to grow worried because the further she drifted into sleep the closer she was getting to Remus. He felt that any moment now she would rest her head on his shoulder. He knew he would be insanely jealous of Remus if that happened.

Finally James came running into the common room, waking Lisa up. She looked at Sirius who at that moment had been watching her. He quickly looked away and looked at James.

"You'll never guess what!" He said, standing in front of them as if he were on stage.

"Out with it Prongs, we're tired." Sirius said very annoyed.

"I've been made Captain of the Quidditch team!" He said throwing his arms up dramatically.

"That's fantastic James." Lily said through a huge yawn. She got up, kissed his cheek, and headed straight for the girls dormitory.

"Good for you mate." Remus said getting up. "Night Lisa." He said patting her shoulder as he left. She slumped over pretending to be asleep. Remus laughed at her.

"Come on, get up." He said grabbing her hand and pulling her up.

"I don't want to." She complained. "Carry me."

"I'll carry you." Sirius said, pulling her hand out of Remus's and taking her into his arms.

"Its ok Sirius, I'm up now." She said flushing furiously.

"You sure?" He asked still holding on to her hand. She nodded and he let go.

"Congratulations James." She said to James, giving him the hug that he needed.

"Thanks Lisa." He said returning her hug.

"See you in the morning!" She said and disappeared up the stairs.

"Night Padfoot, night Prongs." Remus said going up the boys staircase.

Sirius grumbled.

"What Padfoot?" James asked him.

"Everyone else got a hug." He mumbled.

"Aw, is that what you want a hug? Ok!" James said and threw his arms around Sirius.

"James! Get off!" Sirius yelled. James let go and burst out laughing.

"Ok," James said putting on a serious face. "Why don't you just tell her?"

Sirius sighed and looked up at the girls stairs where Lisa had last been.

"I will." He said. "Soon."

The next morning they all sat together and enjoyed their first breakfast back. Schedules were passed out and Lisa and Remus were pleased to learn that they had every single class together. They immediately started working up a studying schedule. James teased them while Sirius faked a smile. He couldn't help being sad that he only had Lisa in two of his classes. He was also a little worried that her and Remus had so many classes together. When they finished their breakfast they went their separate ways. Lisa and Remus had their first class together while James, Sirius and Lily had theirs, Peter was the only one taking a different class.

The first few weeks of term went by in a flash. Before anyone knew it, they were a month and a half into the school year already. Remus and Lisa were exhausted the first few weeks from their work load. Everyone knew that they were both taking all the hardest N.E.W.T classes. By the second month though they had themselves adjusted. They helped each other manage their time wisely. Except for the few days that he would disappear entirely, Remus was able to keep anyone from distracting him. Lisa on the other hand was easily distracted by one person only, Sirius. Though this didn't stop her from being curious about Remus's frequent disappearances.

Usually you could find Sirius sitting next to Lisa with her pile of homework laid out in front of her. She would be laughing at something he said while complaining that her ink kept drying on her quill. She never once told him to leave her alone so that she could work. They always seemed to be in a world of their own when talking to each other.

The next months passed even more quickly. Christmas was just around the corner. Sirius, Remus, Lily, James, Peter and Lisa decided to stay at the castle for the winter holiday. They enjoyed having the common mostly to themselves as everyone else had gone home for the holiday. They all awoke Christmas morning to find many presents at the foot of their beds.

"Wake up Lisa!" Lily called throwing a pillow onto Lisa's bed. "Time for presents!"

Lisa sat up in her bed and crawled over to the end, trying to decide which parcel she should open first. She finally just picked one from the top. It was from her parents. She opened it to find a new sweater in a beautiful blue (a Muggle gift from her father) and a shiny new telescope (from her mother whose favorite subject while at Hogwarts was Astronomy). She also got a life size replica of a Snitch that flew around in circles from James, a handful of Chocolate Frogs from Peter, a large collection of Muggle lip gloss from Lily ("Thank you Lily! These are my favorites!"), a hardback copy of her favorite book with gold lettering from Remus, and a bouquet of everlasting flowers that changed with the seasons from Sirius. She had chosen to open her gift from Sirius last. When she opened it she was amazed by the beauty of the flowers that had a slightly perfumed smell. She carefully placed them in a vase on the nightstand next to her bed. She looked at them adoringly.

"Snap out of it!" Lily called to her. "We should get dressed and go down to the common room."

Lisa put on her new sweater and a pair of jeans. She decided that she wanted to dress like a Muggle today. She ran a brush through her long brown hair and put on some of the Strawberry flavored lip gloss Lily had given her. Then she followed Lily down into the common room where all of the boys were waiting. James was the first to meet Lily at the bottom of the stairs and enveloped her in a hug with a thank you for his gift. Then he hugged Lisa.

"A Broomstick Servicing kit! Brilliant! I love it." He said letting go of her.

Remus came up to her next. They both laughed when they saw each other.

"What's so funny?" James asked.

"We got each other the same thing." Lisa told him.

"Well, great minds do think alike." Remus said smiling and embracing her in a hug.

Lisa went over to Peter and hugged and thanked him for the Chocolate Frogs. She then found Sirius sitting on the couch playing with the toy model of a motorbike she had given him. She went over to him and draped herself over his shoulder.

"The flowers were beautiful." She whispered in his ear. He flushed as she walked around the couch and sat next to him.

"This is bloody brilliant!" He said holding up the motorbike. "One of these days I'm going to get me a real one. I'm going to do lots of fun things with it. Who would have guessed Muggles could make something so cool!"

Lisa beamed at him. She was so happy that he liked her gift. The group lounged in the common room till it was time for the Christmas dinner. Lily and James were sharing a chair by the fire, close together, occasionally sneaking a kiss. Peter was setting up the new Wizard's Chess set he had received from his mother. Remus, Lisa and Sirius were sitting on the couch, Remus running his fingers over the gold letting of the title.

Lisa smiled as she watched him.

"You look lovely in that sweater Lisa." Remus told her looking up from the book.

"Yes, it matches the color of your eyes." Sirius said mad at Remus because he voiced the very thought Sirius had been debating over whether he should say.

Lisa blushed and murmured a thank you. Soon it was time for all of them to go down to dinner. Because so few students remained over the holiday the long house tables had been set aside and there was a smaller one set in the middle instead. They had a hearty dinner with the Hogwarts staff members and the few other students who remained over the holiday. Professor Dumbledore passed around crackers and everyone wore festive hats. After dinner everyone climbed back up to the Gryffindor tower, full to bursting point with good holiday food. The group talked in the common room till late hours. Then they finally said goodnight to each other and went up their separate dormitory stairs.

The next day Lisa went down to the common room to find it completely empty. She sat in an arm chair reading into the afternoon when Sirius, Peter, and James came through the portrait hole. They were whispering to each other and didn't notice Lisa until she said something to them.

"Where have you guys been all morning?" She asked. They immediately stopped talking amongst themselves.

"Er...just out running around the castle." James said.

"Oh..." She replied. "Where's Remus?"

"Um...his mother is sick so he went home for a few days." Sirius told her.

"But don't worry, he'll be back soon." James added.

With that the boys excused themselves to their dormitory. Lisa worried about Remus and was slightly suspicious of the other guys' behavior. Especially when she didn't see them for a whole night and when she did they were all tired looking and kept to their dormitory. She put it out of her mind when the rest of the school started to come back from the holiday. Remus reappeared the day before classes resumed. Lisa decided that she wouldn't question Remus about his absence, she didn't want to pry and it was obviously something that the four boys didn't want to talk about.

A few weeks of classes flew by once again packed with the usual amount of study time, finding Snape hanging upside down and watching James play Quidditch. One night Lisa was sitting in her usual arm chair with her homework laid out in front of her. She had been waiting for Remus to join her, as he usually did, but he never showed. She started to work on her homework on her own when she heard familiar laughs coming from the other side of the common room. She looked over to find Remus, Peter, James and Sirius huddled together over a table. She stared at them, laughing and arguing over what seemed like a piece of parchment, Sirius looked up and over at her. He gave her a wink and a smile. To prevent herself from blushing she gave a quick smile in return and went back to her homework. Sirius stared at her, still smiling.

"Oy Padfoot!" James yelled at him from across the table. He turned around to see what Sirius was looking at.

"Are you ever going to tell her?"

"Well, I was thinking about asking her to Hogsmeade this weekend. But that's the night of the next full moon." Sirius said.

"So?" James said.

"So, if I have to leave her suddenly that night she might get suspicious." Sirius answered.

"I think this might be worth the risk. Don't you think so Moony?" James asked Remus.

"Course. This is something very important." Remus said smiling.

Sirius beamed. "Now what should the incantation to show the contents be?"

"I've got a great idea for what it should do if a teacher tires to figure it out." James chuckled.

"Sirius, I think you should go ask Lisa to Hogsmeade right now. Before she makes plans with Lily or something." Remus suggested.

"Good idea Moony! Go on Padfoot!" James encouraged.

Sirius rolled his eyes but got up from the table and went over to the armchair where Lisa was sitting. He sat in the chair next to her. She put down her quill and looked up when he sat down.

"What are you boys up to over there?" She asked.

"Oh, just working on a little idea that we had." He said grinning. "So...er...I was wondering, would you like to go into Hogsmeade with me this weekend?"

Her insides jolted.

"I'd love to." She finally managed to get out.

"Great." He beamed. "Well I should get back. Don't work too hard."

He left his chair quickly and rejoined his friends at the table.

"See, that wasn't so hard was it?" James said.

Sirius glared at him.

Lisa counted down the days of the week until the weekend finally came. She was excited and nervous but determined not to show it. She dressed carefully Saturday morning, brushing her hair over and over again and trying to decide which lip gloss smelled best. Lily laughed at her running around the room. It was only when she heard Lily's laugh that she snapped out of it.

"You're right, I'm acting silly." She said. "Lets go down to breakfast."

They went down to the Great Hall. They took their places among James, Peter and Sirius. Remus was once again absent. Lisa noticed this but decided not to ask. She knew that something was wrong but felt it wasn't her place to be inquisitive.

"Good morning ladies." James said as they sat down.

"Morning James." Lily and Lisa chorused.

Sirius smiled at Lisa from across the table. She smiled in return but felt her face grow hot. They had a chatter filled breakfast and soon it was time for those departing to Hogsmeade to join the throng of students flooding the hall, getting their names checked off the list of those who had permission to visit the wizarding village. Sirius and Lisa got their names checked off and made their way towards the village. Once they got there they walked around the various shops. Pausing to purchase a few items in Zonko's and Honeydukes. They walked and talked with each other, huddling close together to keep warm and have an excuse to touch each other. They found themselves near the end of the village.

"There's a café over there." Sirius said. "Should we try that or make our way back to The Three Broomsticks?"

"The Three Broomsticks is so far away. Lets try this." She replied.

They walked into the café and sat at a small table in the back. A witch came over and took their order and returned quickly with two hot chocolates. Sipping their hot chocolate and talking together quietly they suddenly grew very warm, contrasting the bitter cold they had been walking in outside.

"This place is very...uh...cozy." Sirius said looking around. Lisa looked around too. It was then that they noticed that the café was filled with nothing but couples looking very romantic. Realizing this at the same time they met each other's eyes and shared a chuckle.

"This is so silly." Sirius began. "There is something I need to tell you."

He went into a well rehearsed version of how amazing he thought she was. How he looked forward to seeing her every morning at breakfast and how he sighed when she left the common room at night. How he had missed her horribly all summer and how he got jittery every time he got one of her letters. He told her how beautiful he thought she was and how he thought every night as he went to bed just how he would tell her all of this one day.

She could feel her heart beat wildly insider her chest as she told him that she felt the same way. That when he smiled at her she melted and loved every second they spent near each other. She confessed that she had always thought that they would be nothing more than friends. He laughed at her sweetly, saying that he thought the same since he'd been so scared to tell her.

"We've been so silly." She said. He reached over and took her hand.

"Yeah." He agreed.

"How thick are you to think that I wouldn't fall for you like all of the other girls who are hopelessly in love with you?" She teased.

He laughed and put his arm around her. "Your so special I wasn't sure." He whispered in her ear. She smiled and rest her head on his shoulder, marveling at how perfect it felt.

"I've been waiting to do this for a long time." He said, gently tipping up her chin and brushing his lips against hers.

When they arrived back at Hogwarts both of them were positively glowing, not just from the cold. Sirius escorted Lisa on his arm like she was a queen. Sirius was so giddy that he found himself not wanting to be back up in the common room, he was thankful that tonight was a full moon. When all of the students and teachers were gone from sight Sirius quickly pulled Lisa into an abandoned classroom.

"What?" She asked him, noticing the glint that was in his eye.

"I want to show you something." He said, pulling out a piece of parchment.

"Its blank." She said looking at it.

His smile became mischievous. "So you think." He touched his wand to the parchment and said "I solemnly swear I am up to no good."

Before her eyes line began to spread all over the parchment. When they had finished she saw that she was looking at an exact map of Hogwarts, showing every secret passageway.

"Is that what you boys were making the other night?" She mused.

Sirius nodded and began pointing out the great features of the map. He pointed out that any student not in their common room would appear on the map and that the whereabouts of the teachers were always documented. He let Lisa examine and admire the map for a little longer than he should have. It wasn't until he saw the dots labeled James Potter and Peter Pettigrew sneaking out towards the Whomping Willow did he say a quick "Mischief managed!" and wipe the map clean.

"I have to go." He said. "The coast is clear for you to get back up to the common room."

He gave her a quick kiss and left the classroom in a hurry. She stared at the door after he left. She smirked a little as she watched it close. Such was typical of Sirius to go running off like that with no explanation. Though she had a feeling he had a very good reason. So she made her way up to the common room by herself. When she stepped in the portrait hole Lily came rushing up to her.

"Had a nice time?" She asked a little breathless from her run across the room.

Lisa smiled and nodded.

Lily's face suddenly took on a shocked expression.

"He kissed you!" She exclaimed.

"What?" Lisa said feeling highly embarrassed because now half the common room was looking at her.

"I can tell, he kissed you!" Lily said.

"How can you tell?" Lisa asked her as they made their way towards chairs in the common room.

"You just have a glow about you." Lily grinned. "So tell me all you did!"

The start of the week was the best on Lisa had ever had. Though when she saw Sirius again he was dead tired and refused to say why. Peter and James had the same look about them but Lisa figured she would get the same response if she questioned them. Remus was missing for a few days. She sorely missed his company when she was doing her homework and worried about him constantly. He finally showed up back in classes on Wednesday. He looked worn and colorless.

Though Lisa was still worried she was glad to have her study partner back. They sat in their usual spot in the library that night trying to finish a particularly difficult essay for their Potions class. Lisa became stuck on a part and tossed her quill down is disgust. Remus soon followed suit.

"Let's take a break, shall we?" Remus suggested. "Perhaps some fresh air would help our minds."

Lisa nodded and they made their way to the stone courtyard outside the Great Hall. It was a crisp night but a welcome change from the stuffiness in the library. Remus looked at the sky and began to point out the constellations they learned in their astronomy class.

"Stop. I don't want to think about school work right now." She said pulling down his arm. When she touched it he winced. She looked at him but he did not meet her eyes. She carefully pulled up the sleeve of his robe. She saw cuts a bruises all over his forearm.

"Are you ever going to tell me what is wrong with you?" She asked softly.

He continued to look at the sky. He figured that there was no way out of it. That he should tell her. That she deserved to know the truth about him.

"Well," He began uncertainly. "I have this condition."

"Remus, are you a werewolf?" Lisa asked quietly.

He put his head down and nodded. He was never more afraid in his life as he was at that moment. He wasn't even this scared when Peter, James and Sirius had found out. He respected Lisa so much and he was frightened that she would never speak to him again. A loss like that would destroy him. He couldn't bring himself to look at her. He didn't want to see the shock and horror that he knew would be on her face. He felt her raise from the bench beside him. He knew that she would probably run away from him. He almost felt like crying.

Instead he felt a soft tug on his arm, pulling him up next to her. He still had his head down. He was so scared to look at her. When he finally did he saw that she was close to tears herself. She looked at him then flung her arms around his neck pulling him close to her.

"It must be so horrible for you. I've read about how painful transformations are." She said holding him tightly.

He winced but didn't want her to let go. If he had wanted to cry before he almost couldn't control himself now. He felt tears swelling up in the back of his eyes. He looked down at the creature holding him. This creature so full of compassion to be kind to him when he had just revealed that he was a horrible blood-thirsty killer. He had never been more thankful to be him in his whole life. He felt her lips brush against his cheek before she squeezed him tighter and finally let him go.

"I was afraid you'd never speak to me again." He sighed.

She laughed.

"Don't be thick!" She said.

He smiled at her. She smiled back. He took her hand and held it in his.

"I was so afraid. Afraid that-"

She cut him off. "Afraid of what? That I'd think you're a horrible monster and never talk to you again? That I would be afraid of you? That I would change the way I think about you? It'll take more than you being a werewolf to get rid of me Mr. Remus J. Lupin. You are an amazing person and nothing can change that."

He pulled her to him and hugged her once again. She giggled and returned his hug.

"I'm surprised you didn't find out on your own." He said as they headed back inside the castle.

"Well...I have noticed the signs for a few years now. I ignored them, thinking that it was completely impossible for them to be true."

"There you were wrong." He said with a smile.

As they packed their bags with their books and their essays Lisa suddenly giggled.

"Moony." She said looking up at him. "I would have thought your friends would be a little more original."

He laughed.

"Sirius has told me why you call him Padfoot. I assumed that Prongs and Wormtail have similar meanings. Now it makes sense as to why they would want to become Anamagi."

"I'm surprised Sirius didn't tell you my secret himself, he wants to tell you everything about him." Remus mused.

"Yeah, well I think that is mostly just him showing off." Lisa said as they walked through the portrait hole.


	5. Ch 5

When Lisa was back in her dormitory all she could think about was Remus. How brave he was to be facing life as a werewolf. How he always seemed happy and how he didn't let his condition bring him down. She knew how hard is must be to keep a secret like that. Being the smart girl that she was she figured that Dumbledore had made special arrangements for him. Her admiration of Dumbledore increased by a tenfold at that realization. She also came to another realization that made her breath catch in her chest.

"Lisa?" Lily asked. "Are you ok?"

She nodded and continued to change into her night dress. Remus had been a good friend to her since she started Hogwarts. Though he ran around with the two coolest guys he had always paid special attention to her when usually guys just looked her over. She had feelings for Remus. No matter how she looked at it, it always came back to that conclusion. But Sirius, she thought. What about the tingling feeling she got when he touched her? She could tell that he really liked her and that last things she wanted was to hurt him. What if Remus never thought about her in that way? She was so confused that her head was aching. She pulled the curtains around her four poster bed and tried to go to sleep.

Little did she know that in the boys dormitory Remus was thinking about her. He thought about her often. He always thought about how easily they got along, how he admired her brilliance, how she always made him feel the most comfortable and himself. Right now he was thinking of the way she took the news of his secret. As scared as he was, somehow he knew that she would be the most understanding. He thought that he had feelings for her, but it wasn't until he confided in her that he knew for sure. He thought about how wonderful it felt to be embraced in her hug. The kiss she brushed across his cheek. But he couldn't be thinking about her like this now. Not when Sirius had been going on for days about how much he likes her.

He tossed and turned in his bed unable to clear his mind of thoughts. After a few more trashes under his covers Sirius' head suddenly appeared between the curtains of his four poster. Remus sighed when he saw him. Sirius made it his duty to know the routine of each of his dorm mates, he always knew when one of his friends was unhappy, feeling sick, or not sleeping. Sirius thought it was his duty to fix everything. If someone was unhappy, he'd cheer them up, if they were sick he'd take them straight to the hospital wing, not sleeping, he'd figure out why. Only this time Remus couldn't tell him why.

"Moony, what's wrong?" Sirius whispered not wanting to wake the others up.

"Nothing Sirius," he said. "I'm just worried about this essay I'm battling with."

"Anything I can do to help?"

"No Padfoot, I'll get through it. Thanks though."

Sirius gave Remus a smile then disappeared. Once he was settled back in his bed Remus gave a sigh of relief. He wished more than anything that he could tell Sirius exactly what he was thinking about. But there was no way he could do that. He had to keep this secret to himself.

The next morning Lisa and Remus saw each other in the Great Hall for breakfast. They both looked as if they hadn't gotten enough sleep. Sirius noticed immediately that his girl had not slept well. He questioned her as he did Remus. Remus gave an inward chuckle as she told Sirius the same thing Remus had told him last night. Remus thought that her comment showed that him and Lisa were made for each other, but he quickly wiped that from his mind as he saw Sirius lean over to kiss her cheek.

Remus and Lisa went through their classes together. Both of them were trying so hard to act like they didn't have those thoughts in their head that they didn't notice that both of them were trying a little too hard.

"Library tonight at the usual time to finish our essays?" Lisa asked Remus after their last class.

"Of course. We need to get this done tonight," he said.

"I'll see you later then!" She replied and disappeared down the hallway. Remus, watching her go, shook his head. Trying to keep his thoughts off her was harder than he thought it would be.

The entire group ate dinner together and after Lisa and Remus headed to the library together. They worked hard, comparing notes and proof reading each other's paragraphs. Sooner than they had thought, they were both finished.

"Well," Lisa beamed, happy to be done with her essay. "That certainly went better than last night."

"Much better. I didn't think I'd ever get through that," Remus said. Before he gave a second thought about it he was asking her, "Want to get out of the stuffy library and go for a walk outside?"

Lisa agreed and soon they were sitting on the same stone bench in the courtyard. Lisa looked up at the sky, at the moon just visible over the top of the forbidden forest. She glanced over at Remus to find that he was looking at it too.

"I bet your favorite time of the month is when there's no moon at all," she said quietly.

"Yes," he said just as quiet. "It makes me feel like I'm almost normal."

"I don't want you to be normal. I want you to be Remus."

He looked at her with questioning eyes.

"Normalcy bores me," she told him with a smile.

A cold breeze swept across the courtyard making Lisa shiver.

"Here," Remus said draping his arm around her and pulling her closer. She rested her head against his chest. She didn't get tingly when he touched her but she did feel something. Something that told her his touch was right.

"We should probably get to the common room, we might get sick out here," Remus told her. She nodded and they both stood.

As they turned towards the entrance they saw Sirius standing there, Marauder's Map in hand. His mouth was opening for a greeting until he saw them. Standing close and up against one another. His handsome face twisted into an angry expression and his lips were pressed tightly together. Without a word he spun on his heels and fled as fast as he could away from the courtyard.


	6. Ch 6

Remus looked at Lisa whose mouth had dropped open in shock. Their actions had really been innocent enough, they were just two friends trying to keep warm. But because they both felt incredibly guilty over the thoughts they had been having of each other they knew the scene to be what it looked like. Remus noticed that he still had his arm around her and quickly pulled himself away. They each stood there unsure of what they should do. Lisa looked at Remus who in turn looked at the ground. She shook her head and took off through the entranceway.

She raced up the stairs to Gryffindor tower. She reached the portrait, gave the password and stumbled inside. She looked around the common room, Sirius was no where to be found. She turned and headed towards the boys dormitory stairs ignoring the strange looks she was getting from her fellow students. When she reached the top she knocked on the door of the sixth years. She heard some mumbling inside before the door finally opened. It was James.

"Is Sirius in there?" She asked him.

James closed the door slightly and motioned behind it, a moment later Sirius appeared. He had a sour look on his face that she had never seen before. He usually looked happy to see her.

"Sirius, I..." She wanted to say that she was sorry, that things weren't what they looked like. But she didn't even know if she believed that. Her eyes fell to the floor and she hung her head. What could she say to him?

She made herself look up at him again. She couldn't read the expression on his face, it wasn't the usual look of caring that was saved just for her. She looked into his eyes not knowing what she should do. Suddenly his eyes peered over her shoulder and his look became hard. She turned around to see Remus standing behind her. Sirius scowled and closed the door.

Lisa kicked the wall beside the door in frustration. Remus came up to her and put his hand on her shoulder to comfort her. His touch was gentle and soft.

"Don't worry, I'll talk to him," he told her. "He just needs to cool off and then he'll be able to understand."

She looked at him with eyes filled with relief and gratitude. She touched the hand that was on his shoulder.

"Go ahead, I'll get your stuff from the library."

He smiled at her and went through the door behind her. Wow, she thought, he has such a nice smile. She slapped her forehead in frustration. That was the last thing she should be thinking about at a time like this. After she went down and collected their things from the library she locked herself in her dorm room. Lily immediately noticed that something was wrong.

Lisa launched into the story of how Sirius had found her and Remus so close together. She told her how she tried to go talk to Sirius but didn't know what to say.

"But the problem is," she said as she finished. "I think I have feelings for Remus."

Her and Lily talked late into the night. Trying to sort out feelings. The next morning they both rose early. Lisa waited in the common room for the boys to come down. She expected Sirius to come over to her and tell her that he was sorry for overeating and everything would just go back to normal. Instead when Sirius and James came downstairs Sirius rushed out of the portrait hole without so much as a glance towards her. James looked at her and tried to give her an apologetic smile. There was no doubt in her mind that he would be on Sirius' side. Remus came over to her a minuet later.

As she handed him his book bag he told her, "I tried to talk to him. He's stubborn and refuses to think what he saw wasn't what he thinks it was."

"So what do we do?" She asked him.

"Well, according to James, Sirius thinks we've been dating behind his back since summer. So it might take quite a while for him to cool off enough to be reasoned with."

"Wonderful." She sighed. "Um...Remus, maybe it would be best if we didn't hang out so much. Just until we can explain things to Sirius."

"Perhaps you're right."

Was it just her imagination or did he look the saddest she's ever seen him look?

"Nothing outside of classes then?" he asked her.

"Yeah..." She threw her arms around him in a last hug and left the common room.

When Remus entered the Great Hall for breakfast he saw Lily and Lisa sitting towards the end of the table, quietly talking and eating their breakfast. James, Peter and Sirius were sitting a few bench lengths away. Remus sat somewhere in the middle by himself. Its not like you're not used to being alone anyway, he told himself.

Lisa saw Remus walk into the hall. She saw him sit by himself. She felt extremely bad for him. This had to be all her fault. Perhaps she was so wrapped up in how she was feeling about Remus that she didn't know when things were getting to close. Now Remus was suffering because of it.

Soon a week went by. Nothing had changed for the better between the group of friends. Lisa and Remus were continuing to ignore each other while Sirius continued to ignore them. No matter how hard they tried to talk to him he wouldn't let them explain anything.

Lisa was sitting alone in the library one night trying to work through a set of Arithmacy problems. She had her brows knit in a frown when a shadow appeared on her book. She looked up to see Remus standing in front of her.

"I'm sick of this," he said. "If Sirius is going to be mad at me because he thinks you and I..." He trailed off. He tugged her book out of her hands and pulled her up off the chair. He pulled her close to him, ran his fingers through her hair and pulled her lips to his. She pulled away from him after a second, completely shocked. She stared at him.

"There," he told her. "Now he has a reason to be mad."

He was about to leave when she grabbed his arm, threw her arms around his neck and pulled him into a kiss.

"Remus, I think Sirius has every right to be mad. For a long time I've been thinking about what we just did. I've been trying to deny the fact that I have feelings for you but it wouldn't go away."

He ran his fingers through her hair. "I've been thinking and feeling the same way."

He kissed her again and she rested her head on his shoulder.

"This is horrible. If I were Sirius I would never forgive us."

"Sirius is a good person, he'll forgive us eventually. The full moon is coming soon, so I won't be around for a while. Maybe you can try to talk to him?"

"I will. Don't tear yourself up though."

"If I could help it I wouldn't.

She squeezed him tightly around his torso. "I'm sorry."

He kissed her forehead.

"Its strange how right this feels, isn't it?" He asked her.

"Yes, it is."


	7. Ch 7

The night of the full moon was what Sirius was waiting for. He was upset and he couldn't think straight. He only thought about what he could do. It was simple enough, all he had to do is let a little piece of information slip at the right time. He lingered awhile after the end of potions that the Gryffindors shared with the Slytherians.

"Oh Snivelly..."

Smug with his plan he made his way to Gryffindor tower. At least since the moon was full tonight he wouldn't have to deal with Remus' constant attempts to talk to him. It was easier to pretend someone didn't exist when they weren't constantly bothering you. Upon entering the common room he made his way to a comfortable couch to wait for James, who had taken Lily for a walk around the castle. He felt someone come close to him. Before he could look up to see who it was that person was in his lap. It was Lisa.

"You're not going anywhere until to listen to me," she said to him.

He struggled to push her off of him but she was putting her whole weight into keeping him on the couch.

"Sirius, please listen to me. What you think about me and Remus is wrong. We haven't been together since summer and we haven't done anything behind your back."

The expression in her face told him that she was telling the truth. His hard expression softened just slightly.

"What about you two kissing in the library?" He threw at her.

She hung her head and look generally sad. When she looked back up at him he could see tears glistening in her eyes.

"I can't deny that. I have feelings for Remus. They've always been there." She was trying hard to keep her tears from falling now. "I'm so sorry Sirius. I never ever meant to hurt you. I'm sorry."

As her tears started falling down her cheeks she tried to get up. Sirius held her arm and kept her there. He cupped her wet cheek in his hand and brushed away a tear with his thumb.

He sighed. "You are Remus were made for each other. Anyone could see that. I'm sorry for treating you both the way I did."

She touched his hand that was still on her cheek. "Can you ever forgive us?"

Sudden realization hit him. "How could I stay mad when two of the best people I know in this world have a chance to make each other so happy?"

"Do you mean that?"

"Of course I do."

She encircled her arms around his neck and gave him a hug. It was when she let go and smiled at him did he realize he had done something terrible that needed to be stopped. He pushed her aside and stood up quickly.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I have to find James."

He raced to his room and found the Marauder's Map. He located Lily and James on it and tore down the castle corridors to the courtyard. He quickly apologized to Lily as he pulled James away to explain what he had done.

"YOU WHAT?" James couldn't believe it. "We have to find Snape."

The sun was setting and James just found Snape in time. He caught him as he was walking to the Whomping Willow. James had to wrestle the stick out of his hands and explain to him what would happen if he went down the secret passageway. The moon had risen and James could hear the sounds of a changing Remus below. He persuaded Snape to follow him back into the castle.

Remus woke in the hospital wing the next morning. He was beaten up more than usual since his friends hadn't joined him that night. He didn't expect them to, not with the way Sirius felt towards him. He was beginning to drift back to sleep when he heard voices close to his bed. He opened his eyes to find James, Peter and sandwiched in between them was Sirius. Sirius told him what happened. James was forced to go to Dumbledore to make Snape swear that he wouldn't tell Remus' secret. Remus couldn't believe Sirius would do that to him but he really couldn't blame him. He would be upset to if one of his best friends had stolen his girlfriend.

James and Peter left, leaving Sirius and Remus alone.

"I'm sorry Moony. For everything."

He told Remus about the talk he had with Lisa and what he had said to her. Sirius was blown away by the fact that he actually believed what he said. After all, Remus had such a hard life, he deserved to have someone like Lisa to help him through it. Sirius and Remus beamed at each other in a final understanding when they heard soft footsteps. Sirius turned around to see Lisa looking at him reproachfully. He put an arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer to Remus' bedside. Then he put her hand in Remus'. He gave them a smile at left quietly.

Lisa sat on the side of the bed and pulled herself close to Remus.

"You look horrible." She told him.

"Thank you."

She kissed his forehead gently, not wanting to disturb the huge gash on his cheek.

"Its nice to have Sirius' blessing, isn't it?" He asked her.

"Yes." She moved his hair away from his face. "You should go back to sleep now."

"Yes m'am." He said as he closed his eyes.

She stayed by him until she was sure he was asleep. She brushed another soft kiss across his forehead and left the hospital wing. As she walked to Gryffindor tower she couldn't help but smile to herself. She was happy for the first time in weeks.


End file.
